Deodoro-class coastal defense ship

The Deodoro class were two French-designed and -built coastal defense battleships built for the Brazilian Navy in the late 1890s. Upon their completion, Scientific American called them small vessels of a type "built only for second-rate naval powers," but also noted that it was a "wonder ... so much armor and armament could be carried" on a ship of its size.^[1] They served the Brazilian Navy as its only modern armored warships until the arrival of two dreadnoughts in 1910.^[2]

Deodoro
Class overview
Name	Deodoro class
Builders	Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, La Seyne, France
Operators	Brazilian Navy  Mexican Navy
Preceded by	Javary class
Succeeded by	None
Built	1898-1899
In service	1900-1936
Completed	2
Retired	2
General characteristics
Type	Coastal defence battleship
Displacement	3,162 tons standard
Length	81.5 meters
Beam	14.4 meters
Draught	4.19 meters
Propulsion	2 shaft triple expansion engines 8 Lagrafel d'Allest boilers 3,400 ihp (2,500 kW)
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement	200
Armament	2 × Armstrong 9.2-inch, 45 caliber guns in 2 single turrets 4 × 4.7-inch, .50-caliber guns 6 × 6-pounder (57 mm) Hotchkiss guns 2 × 17.7 (450 mm) torpedo tubes mounted on the beam
Armour	Belt: 350–150 mm Deck: 45 mm Casemate: 75 mm (3.0 in) Turret face: 220 mm (8.7 in)
Notes	In 1912 both vessels were modernized with 8 Babcock & Wilcox oil-firing boilers, replacing the coal-fired boilers. 400 t of oil were carried.

About

The ships had a low freeboard and long superstructures with single-gun main turrets arranged at each end. Their secondary batteries were also mounted at each end of the superstructure, albeit in casemates in each corner. All used British Armstrong guns.^[3]

In 1912, both ships were overhauled with new propulsion and armament.^[2] In 1924, Brazil sold Marshal Deodoro to the Mexican Navy.^[4] She served for another 14 years, primarily as a training vessel.^{[citation needed]}

Deodoro-class coast-defense ships

• Deodoro (sold to Mexico and commissioned as the Anáhuac)
• Floriano (scrapped)

References

1. "The New Brazilian Armorclad 'Marshal Deodoro'". Scientific American. 82 (12): 184. 24 March 1900. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican03241900-184a.
2. Lyon, p. 407
3. Lyon, pp. 403–404
4. The New International Year Book. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. 1925. p. 505.

Bibliography

• Lyon, Hugh (1979). "Brazil". In Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
• Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.

External links